Newcastle preview

A few disconnected points:

• I hate watching City in games we're expected to win. I mean, really really fucking hate it. Not just because even the best case scenario (a thumping win, a la Chelsea and Man Utd on the weekend) comes as a relief more than anything. But because such an outcome rarely ever happens.

• Remember last year? We lost at Reading, Middlesbrough and Birmingham. We drew at Derby, Bolton and Fulham. Going to poor teams and getting something is remarkably difficult for us. I thought Hughes would improve this side of us, but so far we've lost at Wigan and (more understandably) Villa, whilst beating Sunderland and scraping past all of our UEFA Cup games. Hughes still has to alleviate this deficiency.

• The team picks itself. It will surely be the team which has played the last month or so, but with Ben Haim naturally in for Zabaleta. Presumably TBH will go in at right back, but there is an argument for breaking up the Richards/Dunne partnership at centre back, playing Micah in his 2006/07 position and putting the two old heads together in the middle. Defence has been our weakest thing this season - could this be an answer while Pablo sits out?

• Newcastle are such a disgracefully bad team, we really should get something. If we lose it'll be 3 wins 5 losses in the league after eight games that were not strikingly difficult. Even a win puts us on 4 wins 4 losses - the same as West Ham. This is very important.
  

• My superstitious side hopes we wear blue. We never win in change kits. Almost literally never. And our orange kit is disgusting. Really disgusting.